Erdogan to Visit Russia on March 5

By Staff- Agencies

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan plans to visit Russia on Thursday, his office said.

"Our president is planning to visit Russia with a one-day visit on March 5," the presidency said Monday.

Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said that Russian President Vladimir Putin and Erdogan would discuss the implementation of the Sochi agreements on Syria.

The day before, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that that it could no longer guarantee the safety of Turkish aircraft flying over northern Syria after Damascus moved to close the airspace over the embattled province of Idlib.

The move came amid tensions in Idlib that escalated last Thursday after the Syrian army repelled a large-scale assault by terrorists operating in the area. As a result of a counterattack, 33 Turkish servicemen were killed.

Following the clashes, the Russian Defense Ministry said that the killed Turkish troops were mixed with terrorists from the Al-Nusra group and operated outside observation posts established by Turkey in line with the 2018 Sochi agreement.